Equities in Canada’s largest market shared in the general downward trend displayed by North American markets Thursday, as weakness in resources and information technology weighed on the numbers.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slogged lower 142.16 points to close Thursday at 15,213.42
The Canadian dollar gained 0.2 cents to 76.9 cents U.S.
Gold proved the biggest anchor on the market, as Barrick Gold, lost 33 cents, or 1.6% to $20.70, while Goldcorp dropped 51 cents, or 2.9%, to $16.87.
Teck Resources gave back three cents to $22.45, after agreeing to buy a Mexican mine from a subsidiary of Goldcorp. First Majestic Silver went south 44 cents, or 4%, to $10.60.
Tech issues got pounded, not the least, BlackBerry, swooning 32 cents, or 2.4%, to $13.03, while Constellation Software slipped $3.51 to $682.00
Alimentation Couche Tard Inc declined $1.51, or 2.4%, to $62.83. The convenience store operator's shares had jumped earlier in the week on news it had won U.S. antitrust approval to buy rival CST Brands Inc.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada told us that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $971.00 in April, little changed from March.
Compared with April 2016, earnings were up 2.0%, with most of the increase occurring in the last two months of 2016.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 7.1 points to 762.40
All 12 TSX subgroups were in the red on the day, as gold doffed 2.5%, materials fell 1.7%, and information technology gave back 1.6%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. equities fell on Thursday as technology's latest drop washed out strong gains from the big banks.
The Dow Jones Industrials let go of 167.58 points to 21,287.03, with Apple, Boeing, and 3M contributing the most losses. The 30-stock index briefly fell more than 250 points earlier in the session.
The S&P 500 surrendered 20.99 points to 2,419.76, with information technology sliding 1.8%. The S&P also traded below its 50-day moving average for the first time since May 18.
The NASDAQ slouched 90.06 points, or 1.4%, to 6,144.35, after yesterday’s sharp gain.
Tech has been the best-performing sector for most of 2017, rising more than 15% in the period. But over the past month, it has dropped nearly 2%.
Shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Apple and Google-parent Alphabet all dropped more than 1%. Chip stocks also fell, with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices closing 3.3% and 4.8% lower, respectively.
The drop in tech negated gains from the big banks, which followed the Federal Reserve not objecting to the capital repurchase programs from the banks they examined.
The central bank did not object to any of the buybacks or dividend hikes from the 34 banks it reviewed during the second phase of its annual stress test. This is the first time in the seven-year history of the tests implemented in the wake of the financial crisis that all banks have passed.
In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that economy down south grew at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the first quarter.
Weekly jobless claims, meanwhile, came in at 244,000 for last week, slightly above the expected 240,000.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury note collapsed, raising yields to 2.27% from Wednesday’s 2.22%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 12 cents to $44.86 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices docked $4.40 to $1,244.70 U.S. an ounce.
